What to do when you are ensnared in sin.

Have you ever let a sin into your life that you never meant to allow in? Did the sin creep in until it ensnared you? I had the pleasure of hearing my Pastor speak this morning on the difference between being a "slave to Satan" and a "servant to Christ". (I plan to put up a link to the podcast on www.becomforted.com in a couple of days, after it is on the church website.)   There were a few things my Pastor said that got me thinking about habitual sins that, when birthed, can enslave a person. There is very little comfort for a person who feels ensnared by sin-- or in the words of my pastor "a slave to Satan". 

After getting my kids to bed tonight I flipped open to the Psalms and just happened to land on the 25th Psalm. I got to verse 15, "My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare" and it struck me how God was pulling the two messages together. Verse 15 was really popping out at me.
It seemed to be the answer to the "slave to Satan" issue.  Check it out. Here's David's answer:

Where do you go when you have gotten ensnared in sin? 

You keep your eyes fixed on the Lord, not on the sin, for "only GOD will release your feet from the snare".

David goes on to say this in the 25th Psalm:

"Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!" 

Ten things you can do when you are "ensnared" in sin, as taught by David in the 25th Psalm:

1.  Keep your eyes on the Lord.

2. Admit the sin. Ask the Lord to be gracious, and to take away your sins.

3. Acknowledge the feelings you have that are connected to the sin and the enemies who you have hurt or who have hurt you. Flush those feelings out in prayer.  God can take it.

4. Ask God to guard your life.

5. Ask God to rescue you from where you are. 

6. Ask God that you would not be put to shame.

7. Take refuge in God.

8. Look to live out your integrity and uprightness from here on out, that it might protect you in the future.

9. Put your hope in God. 

10. Pray that God redeem what needs redeeming. 

I will wrap up this post with Psalm 25:1-3. 

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame, 
nor let my enemies triumph over me. 

No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame, 

but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 

 As you feel led, give God praise. Psalm 33:1 says, "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him." As you see God's hand at work, give him the glory for that. This is another great lesson we learn from David over and over again in the Psalms. Praise God in the big victories and in the little victories. "It is fitting for the upright to praise him." You are loved.